Stranded on Ice: Polar Bears Prowling…

Glen Gantz is a biologist from Utah who likes to take a walk, or a row, on the wild side. In August 2000, he embarks on a never-before-attempted challenge: a 12-day rafting trip down northern Canada’s perilous Firth River… alone. It was always going to be tough, but things take a serious turn when Glen finds himself stranded on a narrow spit of land. He soon realises he isn’t as alone as he thought… A Noiser production, written by Nicole Edmunds. For ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you’d like to put forward for the show, let us know. Drop us an email at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

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• 0:57John Hopkins?

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• 1:01John Hopkins?

  It's mid-August 2000.

• 1:04John Hopkins?

  At the northern tip of Canada, the Firth River flows with ferocity.

• 1:10John Hopkins?

  Its ice-blue waters cascade through granite canyons, slapping against jagged rocks as a freezing coastal wind from the Beaufort Sea stirs up a wicked current.

• 1:23John Hopkins?

  As the pale Arctic sun sets, leaving a lilac sky peppered with wispy gray clouds, a raft appears on the horizon. It travels slowly along the rolling river, cutting a choppy line as it zigzags from left to right. Inside the raft, trying in vain to keep on course, is 41-year-old Glenn Gans. His hands are near translucent with cold. He can barely grasp the oars clenched in his fists, but his face is set in grim determination.

• 1:59John Hopkins?

  He's been on the river for almost 12 days. He's witnessed all manner of conditions: freezing temperatures, rain, gale-force winds, snowstorms.

• 2:10John Hopkins?

  But now, as his little raft inches towards a finger of land sticking out at the end of the waterway, it's a sign Glenn's struggles are surely coming to an end.

• 2:21John Hopkins?

  If he can just make it to the eastern side of Nunaluk Spit, a plane is due to take him home.

• 2:28Speaker 03

  The wind was, at that point, was coming out of the east. And I'm supposed to row across this open water, and it's about, I think it's about two miles. And I'm supposed to row, like, directly northeast to get to the spit where the rendezvous point is. But I could not row to the east.

• 2:47John Hopkins?

  The minutes pass, and the wind doubles in ferocity, tossing Glenn and his raft around like toys. There's no way he can make it to the correct side of Nunaluk in these conditions. No way he can make it to the rendezvous point to reach the plane.

• 3:05John Hopkins?

  So, cutting his losses, he steers to the nearest shore and stumbles out onto the snow-covered banks.

• 3:13John Hopkins?

  Soaked from head to toe, teeth chattering and ears ringing with a constant shriek of the wind, Glenn stands on a small snowy mound and assesses his surroundings. This spit of land is tiny, perhaps just 100 meters wide.

• 3:32John Hopkins?

  And then, as he treks through the ankle-deep snow, eyes peeled for somewhere to pitch his tent, he makes a chilling discovery.

• 3:42John Hopkins?

  He isn't alone.

• 3:46Speaker 03

  I come across some tracks. I've been looking at grizzly bear tracks for 12 days now. I've got a pretty good feel for how big they are. These bear tracks were huge. I mean, they made the grizzly bear tracks look small, and I was like, "Oh my, there is a polar bear on the spit."

• 4:20John Hopkins?

  Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

• 4:43John Hopkins?

  In this episode, we meet Glenn Gantz, a biologist from Utah, who likes to take a walk or a row on the wild side. In August 2000, Glenn embarks on a daunting, never-before-attempted challenge: a 12-day rafting trip down the perilous Firth River alone.

• 5:04Speaker 03

  I called the park service and they said, "I've got a dumb question, but are there any regulations that say you can't do a solo trip on the Firth River?" What they said was, "No, there's no regulations. I'm not sure why you'd want to do that, and no one's ever done it, but there's no regulations against it."

• 5:26John Hopkins?

  It was always going to be dicey, paddling through Arctic waters on Canada's northern coast, miles away from civilization. But when Glenn finds himself stranded on a narrow stretch of land in the middle of the night with a polar bear lurking somewhere in the dark, a risky adventure becomes a potentially deadly one.

• 5:46Speaker 03

  It scared the bejeebies out of me at that point. I mean, there's like, oh my goodness. Polar bears, they want to eat you. I mean, you are nothing more than food to them.

• 5:58John Hopkins?

  I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is Real Survival Stories.

• 6:30John Hopkins?

  It's July the 28th, 2000. On a dusty driveway outside a family home in Utah, 41-year-old Glenn Gantz is packing up his car.

• 6:41John Hopkins?

  A large inflatable raft is tied to the roof, while the trunk is being steadily filled with all manner of equipment: a pair of rubber boots, a waterproof suit, a sleeping bag, and armfuls of food and water supplies. He slots a basic satellite phone into a pocket of a dry bag, then moves everything over as he squashes in the tent, a battered, cheap item bought years ago from Kmart.

• 7:09John Hopkins?

  Glenn climbs into the laden car and unfolds a map next to him on the passenger seat. He calls goodbye to his wife and two young daughters, who are waving enthusiastically from the doorway. Then he speeds off into the early morning sun.

• 7:27John Hopkins?

  Five long days of driving lie ahead as Glenn embarks on what's going to be the trip of a lifetime.

• 7:35John Hopkins?

  The plan is simple. Well, in theory. He is going on a rafting expedition down the Firth River in northern Canada. To start, he'll drive 3,000 miles north from Utah to Inuvik, in Canadian Yukon Territory. From there, he'll meet a pilot and be flown to Margaret Lake in Yavik National Park, the starting point of his trip. And after nearly 100 miles of rowing, camping, and trekking, he'll eventually reach the coast, way up on the northwestern tip of Canada. There, Glenn will be picked up by the same plane and flown back.

• 8:17John Hopkins?

  As a wildlife biologist with a taste for adventure, meandering through the empty wilderness of the Northwest Territories sounds like a dream.

• 8:27Speaker 03

  I spend a lot of time outdoors. As a background, I have always loved adventures. Being outdoors on adventures just fills my spirit, but allows me to have a happy life. I started road biking when I was like 12 and I would take off and have to call my dad to come pick me up because it was getting dark and I couldn't get home. And then we started backpacking with my dad around 13 and started whitewater kayaking when I was like 14. I even started doing paraglide when I was about 17. So my whole life, I always sought out adventures to fill my spirit.

• 9:10John Hopkins?

  All the same, though, he didn't exactly plan to do this rafting trip alone. A year earlier, in 1999, Glenn and five friends heard about the route through the Yukon and hoped to do it together.

• 9:23John Hopkins?

  But as the date neared, people bailed, one by one. The trip was postponed to the following year. Unfortunately, in 2000, Glenn's friends once again dropped out. This time, it didn't stop him.

• 9:40Speaker 03

  Also, part of the motivation at that time was I had a very good friend, Scott George, who had passed away. He was 37 at the time. And it really made me realize how precious life is. And, you know, if you don't do it now, you may never get a chance to do it. Tomorrow's not guaranteed and live every day like it's your last. So that was kind of the motivation.

• 10:11John Hopkins?

  Before taking off though, Glenn had to check whether it was actually viable to do the whole trip solo. Most teams of rafters take between 10 to 12 days to row through the hostile waters of the Northwest Territories. The route is demanding, passing forests and tundra, craggy peaks and meadows, coastlines and ice-filled seas. To do it alone would be dangerous, fearless, possibly even illegal. Cue a bizarre phone call to the Canadian Park Rangers.

• 10:45Speaker 03

  I called the park service and I said, "I've got a dumb question, but are there any regulations that say you can't do a solo trip on the Firth River?" And honestly, I was hoping for them to say, "Oh yeah, you can't do that." But what they said was, "No, there's no regulations. I'm not sure why you'd want to do that, and no one's ever done it, but there's no regulations against it." And so, it made me think about it, talk about it a little bit more, and then going back to, "If I don't do this now, I may never have a chance to do it."

• 11:22John Hopkins?

  After getting the all-clear from the rangers, Glenn ran the idea past his wife Kathy. It was a big ask. He'd be gone for more than a fortnight, leaving her alone with her two young daughters over the summer holidays. There'd be minimal contact with him. The wilderness that far north isn't exactly known for its reliable signal. But Kathy was understanding. Trips like this are hugely beneficial for Glenn. And so it was all decided.

• 11:54John Hopkins?

  After researching the route of the Firth River, Glenn estimated that doing it solo would probably take him around 12 days.

• 12:02John Hopkins?

  He'll spend the daytime hours rowing the raft northeast, then set up camp on the riverbanks each night.

• 12:09John Hopkins?

  Before leaving, a quick check of the weather.

• 12:13John Hopkins?

  The park rangers reassured him that being so close to the Arctic Circle during the summer months promises long hours of daylight. Even better, August, his planned departure date, can almost guarantee glorious conditions. The rangers also laughed off Glenn's questions about polar bears, saying that the animals only travel when there's pack ice, a formation typically found in the dead of winter.

• 12:40Speaker 03

  I have to say, I was nervous. I mean, that's a big adventure. You know, of course, I was scared about what could happen and whether I could pull it off on my own.

• 12:58Speaker 00

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• 13:28Speaker 01

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• 13:34Speaker 00

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• 13:51Speaker 01

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• 14:01John Hopkins?

  It's the start of August as Glenn arrives into the colorful little town of Inuvik. He's already 3,000 miles from home and will soon be further away still. But there is already a problem. The sunny summer skies have been replaced by heavy rain clouds and a damp, howling wind, not the conditions Glenn was promised. Trying to shake off a dispiriting start, he meets the pilot who will be flying him into the heart of Inuvik National Park. That evening, they fly directly to his starting point, Margaret Lake.

• 14:42John Hopkins?

  The little bush plane glides over enormous stretches of Canadian delta, great mazes of fresh water leading through the wide landscape. When they reach Margaret Lake and the tiny aircraft creeps towards its grayish waters, it becomes apparent that this drop-off isn't going to be quite what Glenn expected. Surprisingly, they don't land on land.

• 15:11Speaker 03

  The fact what happened was, the pilot lands out in the lake, and he says, "Well, this is as close as I can get to the shore." I'm like, "What?" So I've got all my gear in there, you know, a couple hundred pound raft and all this stuff. And he said, "Oh yeah, most people just, you know, strip down to their underwear and carry this stuff to shore."

• 15:33John Hopkins?

  Due to heavy rain in recent days, the pilot can't get any closer to the river. The lake has widened, the surrounding ground is saturated, and the water is muddy and opaque. The compact aircraft is fitted with pontoons, essentially large floats beneath the fuselage, which allow it to set down right in the middle of the lake. Glenn has no choice but to lower himself into the shallow, murky water.

• 16:01Speaker 03

  I jump in and started carrying my first load to shore, and I was just sinking in mud up to my knees, and I'm like, "Oh, this is not gonna work." So I walked back out to the plane and I said, "Well, this isn't gonna work. You gotta take me back." And he said, "Well, I can't, because there's too much weight on the plane. I can't take off on this lake."

• 16:24John Hopkins?

  If they were on land, the pilot explains, it would be a different matter. They could just take to the skies again and fly home. But somehow Glenn has found himself in a lake he can't wade through on a plane that can't take off, not while he and his heavy equipment remain on it at least. For a few moments, it seems like he's totally stuck.

• 16:46Speaker 03

  So I was like, "Okay, stop thinking, you know, solve a problem here." So I was like, "Okay, well, I'll just sit on the pontoon of the plane, and I'll blow up my raft, I'll throw my stuff in it, and paddle it to shore."

• 17:00John Hopkins?

  It's as good a plan as any. After slowly inflating his raft, Glenn says farewell to the pilot and clambers off the pontoon and into his vessel, clinging on to the mildly reassuring promise that the plane will meet him again at the rendezvous point in 12 days' time.

• 17:20John Hopkins?

  Due lightly, the aircraft soars away, and Glenn begins paddling towards the lakeshore.

• 17:28John Hopkins?

  The first part is easy enough, but when he finally reaches land, there's still half a mile between him and the Firth River. It's a slow, exhausting process. And by the time he's transported all his equipment to the river's edge, it's 2 AM. His body is crying out for rest, so he settles down to spend his first night on the Firth, camping on the granite edges of the fast-flowing water, with just a thin tent separating him from the wilderness.

• 17:59John Hopkins?

  Although he's physically spent, the adrenaline in his veins means it's unlikely he'll get much sleep.

• 18:07Speaker 03

  When the pilot left, I remember the feeling of, wow, I am here all alone. This is terrifying. But it was also exhilarating, too, to think like, there is nobody else around for hundreds of miles. And like, this is what you want. This is an adventure.

• 18:37John Hopkins?

  It's the morning of August the 3rd, and on the desolate banks of the Firth River, Glenn Gantz is starting to stir.

• 18:46John Hopkins?

  The morning sun pierces the slender walls of his tent, dragging him out of his slumber. Muscles aching from hauling his equipment across the plains last night, Glenn shuffles out of his sleeping bag and unzips the tent. He'll have a quick breakfast, change into his rafting gear, then head out to the river.

• 19:06John Hopkins?

  But when he reaches for his rubber boots, which he left outside of the tent last night, his outstretched hand grasps at thin air.

• 19:16Speaker 03

  I wake up, get my boots, and they're gone. At least nobody around is gonna steal a pair of boots up here, right? But I could not find my boots, and I know where I left them. Anyway, I started searching for them, and it was probably about half an hour, I found them. But there were bite marks through the boots, actual punctures going right through the boot, and they were covered in hair. And, you know, I'm scared about bears and wolves and wolverines and how they stole my boots and, you know, punctured them. And it's like, and I was sleeping right there. What was this? I, I really had no idea. I couldn't identify what kind of hair it was.

• 20:00John Hopkins?

  It's a sharp reminder. Glenn is alone in an unforgiving wilderness crawling with predators. Rather than hang around and become a sitting target, he swiftly packs up his tent and supplies, slips his feet into the punctured boots, and heads to the river.

• 20:25John Hopkins?

  The ice cold waters of the Firth splash over jagged rocks and pebbles. The river is fairly shallow, but the white tips that froth on the waves are telltale signs that a strong current swirls below.

• 20:40John Hopkins?

  Glenn clambers into his raft, oars clutched in his hands, and pushes off from the shore with a splash.

• 20:48John Hopkins?

  With rugged coastlines and evergreen trees bordering either side, the 12-day adventure can now truly begin.

• 20:58Speaker 03

  As I'm floating down the river, all I could think about is, how lucky am I to be here? Like, oh my gosh, like, what have I done to deserve this? It was an amazing feeling.

• 21:11John Hopkins?

  Glenn calmly rows downstream as the hours melt away, passing gigantic cliffs, lush green forests, and miles of barren tundra. At one point, he catches sight of two wolves prowling on the bank. His instincts as a wildlife biologist taking over, he steps out of the raft, sets up his tripod, and watches the creatures play.

• 21:36John Hopkins?

  The animals chase each other through the marshy landscape as he snaps photos.

• 21:41Speaker 03

  One wolf continues up the shore and the other one jumps in the river and swims across the river right toward me. And I was just amazed. I mean, just total amazement. I had absolutely no fear. I wasn't scared at all.

• 21:57John Hopkins?

  Day one passes without issue, and Glenn settles down for a peaceful night on the riverbank.

• 22:06John Hopkins?

  Days two to six of the trip continue in much the same manner, as he happily maneuvers his raft through spectacular scenery. He floats through the mountains and admires different species of migratory birds. He battles challenging rapids that whisk him through indigenous lands and ancient settlements, and squeezes his raft through narrow pinpoints on the river's creeks.

• 22:30John Hopkins?

  The only downside is the physical toll. Glenn is spending most daylight hours on the water. He's reliant solely on his own strength and abilities to navigate.

• 22:45John Hopkins?

  It's becoming apparent that he cannot properly replace the calories he's losing. Most nights, he falls asleep with a painful gnawing in his stomach.

• 22:55John Hopkins?

  But he embraces it all. He rises to bird song in the mornings, while the gentle chatter of nocturnal creatures provides his evening lullabies.

• 23:06John Hopkins?

  And then, after almost a week of plain sailing, Glenn reaches the gorge.

• 23:13Speaker 03

  The next part of it is called the gorge. And that's where the river really narrows down, and it goes into a gorge, and it's like 200 meters tall, sheer rock walls on the side. Very few places to pull over. I often describe it as you're getting flushed down a toilet. There's not much you can do. You're at the mercy of the river. You know, you're constantly rowing, pulling away from hitting the walls, and that's where the bigger rapids were. And that's where I was really concerned about maybe flipping the raft and not being able to ever get it back.

• 23:52John Hopkins?

  If anything were to go seriously wrong, Glenn does have a satellite phone on him. But it's of limited use all the way out here, where the signal is patchy at best.

• 24:02John Hopkins?

  Besides, he wants to save his battery, just in case he runs into an actual emergency. For now, the phone remains in the waterproof bag.

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• 25:21John Hopkins?

  The imposing rock walls and narrow frothing whitewater of the gorge run out before him, as if Mother Nature is throwing down a gauntlet.

• 25:32John Hopkins?

  Perhaps there's a way around, but then there's the time issue. He now only has six days to reach the rendezvous point.

• 25:41John Hopkins?

  If he doesn't meet the pilot in time, he'll be left in the wilds. That's one flight you don't want to miss. So the only way is forwards, head-on.

• 25:57John Hopkins?

  Glenn and his raft take a battering as he pummels his way along the narrow swirling waterway. But his skills as a rafter are strong, and he gets through, a bit bumped and bruised, but in one piece.

• 26:12John Hopkins?

  He remains on schedule, for now.

• 26:18John Hopkins?

  It's the evening of August the 11th, night nine of Glenn's trip.

• 26:23John Hopkins?

  He's running low on food and water supplies, and his body is showing signs of extreme fatigue. But he only has three days of rafting left, so on he slogs.

• 26:35John Hopkins?

  When he can take no more, he pulls into a spot on the banks to camp for the night. But as he steps out of his vessel, a sudden fierce wind hits his body, almost knocking him sideways.

• 26:49John Hopkins?

  He steadies himself by leaning on the raft. All around him, the trees are bending and creaking, the river rushing faster than ever.

• 26:59John Hopkins?

  There's a storm on its way.

• 27:02John Hopkins?

  Ordinarily, Glenn ties his raft up with just one rope, but tonight he lashes another on top of it. Better safe than sorry. Then, hands numb with cold, he locks his food and water supplies inside the boat and sets up his tent on the rough tundra.

• 27:20Speaker 03

  I crawled in and tried to get some sleep. Well, the wind just kept getting stronger and stronger, to the point where my tent was literally flattened on top of me. And I was just like holding my hands up, trying to have a nice breathing space and keep it off my face. Somewhere in the middle of the night, the wind was so strong that it literally picked up the tent and me off the ground. And that's when I really was like, this is serious, like this is way serious. There's a risk that this could start blowing me and my tent off this little plateau we're on. So every time I would get a little break in the wind, I would hold on to it and I would

• 28:04Speaker 03

  like reaching my hand out, like digging up rocks, trying to pile rocks inside my tent to add more weight to it. And so that went on for hours. Of course, I got no sleep.

• 28:16John Hopkins?

  For this time of year, the heart of summer, a storm like this is extremely rare.

• 28:26John Hopkins?

  The endless night drags on. Even when hours later, the dawn finally approaches, the storm remains vehement.

• 28:37Speaker 03

  It had turned to snow. And there was about six, eight inches of snow everywhere outside. But another amazing thing happened. About fifty feet from my tent is this pure white stall sheep just grazing in this little meadow just out there. I had to like second guess myself like, am I seeing this? Was this an omen?

• 29:04John Hopkins?

  The distant sheep seems unbothered by the cruel conditions. Glenn, on the other hand, cannot leave his tent.

• 29:13John Hopkins?

  Clearly, he won't make it onto the river in such a tempest. He's going to lose precious time. But the only thing for it is to stay put and wait.

• 29:24John Hopkins?

  The icy winds smother him and his core temperature plummets as his body grows weaker with hunger.

• 29:31John Hopkins?

  Locking his food and water in his raft seemed like a good idea yesterday evening. But now, famished and faltering, the decision doesn't seem so smart. It remains too hazardous to venture outside.

• 29:45Speaker 03

  You're forced in this tent for thirty-six hours. I mean, I was, I was just worried about the tent blowing away. And I was trying to think about what else can I do? How can I make this more secure? At one point, I thought about going out and piling snow around the tent. But it's like, I didn't have anything to do that with. My mind was just, how am I going to handle this? What, what can I do to make this situation better or less likely to turn tragic?

• 30:25John Hopkins?

  It's happened slowly, almost imperceptibly, but the adverse factors are piling up.

• 30:32John Hopkins?

  His body is weakening, the storm is relentless, and if he doesn't reach his ultimate destination, he may never make it out of here.

• 30:43John Hopkins?

  But after another intense, interminable night, dawn creeps over the horizon, and this time, thankfully, the weather gods are on Glenn's side.

• 30:55John Hopkins?

  Though the winds are still strong and snow sparkles on the riverbanks, it all looks just about manageable.

• 31:03John Hopkins?

  Two days, that's all Glenn has left to reach Nunaluk Spit. Two days, or the pilot may have no choice but to leave him out here. He doesn't have a minute to lose.

• 31:17Speaker 03

  It was really, really difficult rowing the raft into the wind. So, you know, spending a lot of energy, burning lots of calories. So I spent that whole day rowing down the river. I did not make it as far as I wanted to because of the wind, and just camped in the middle of the river, basically, on a gravel. So I camped there that night, and again, it was really windy.

• 31:42John Hopkins?

  A whole 24 hours races past. Glenn has made up some ground, but when the next day, day 12, finally rolls around, he wakes up determined to make the most of every hour. He's on the home straight now.

• 31:57John Hopkins?

  He's freezing cold, mentally and physically drained, and his whole body is crying out with hunger. In under two weeks, he's lost so much weight that his clothes are hanging off him.

• 32:09John Hopkins?

  The icy tundra of Yukon Country extends on all sides. He is a tiny speck in the expanse as he rows on.

• 32:20John Hopkins?

  The final section of the trip will take him from the Firth Delta towards the Arctic Ocean and Beaufort Sea. This transition from river to saltwater makes it one of the most challenging sections, as coastal winds are notoriously harsh and unpredictable.

• 32:37John Hopkins?

  There is also the added difficulty of navigating the ever-multiplying channels of the river as they splinter off like infinite branches of a tree.

• 32:49Speaker 03

  That was one of the areas that the park rangers said, you know, be really careful because you could wind up on any one of these channels and they just branch off so much that there's no water. You can't float your raft. So, you know, I was constantly making decisions. Could I go right? Should I go left? You know, all the way down. And there were several places where I did run aground, where I had to get out, like drag my boat over the rocks. Again, burning up lots of calories. In hindsight, I could say that I was not consuming enough calories. And that will come back to biting the next day here.

• 33:35John Hopkins?

  The end in sight. Glenn clenches his burning muscles and rows more ferociously than ever. It's getting harder with each stroke as the Arctic gales flurry around the raft, constantly turning it this way and that. Nunuluk Spit is now just ahead, a narrow peninsula painfully close.

• 33:58Speaker 03

  And the wind was, at that point, was coming out of the east. And I'm supposed to row across this open water. And it's about, I think it's about a few miles. And I'm supposed to row like directly northeast to get to the spit where the rendezvous point is, but I could not row to the east. All I'm doing is kind of moving to the north and west a little bit to keep from just getting totally blown away.

• 34:25John Hopkins?

  Try as he might, he cannot reach the northeast section of Nunuluk Spit. He now has to make a decision. Does he carry on and use all of his remaining energy to battle the maelstrom and try to reach the rendezvous point on time? Or does he moor his raft on the nearest coast, set up camp for the night, then row across once the wind has died down? If he chooses this, he'll just have to pray the plane waits for him. Glenn makes the call. He abandons the journey for the time being and heads to the nearest patch of snow-covered coastline.

• 35:05John Hopkins?

  Up close, Nunuluk Spit is smaller than he anticipated. Only a few miles long and no more than 100 meters wide.

• 35:14John Hopkins?

  He steps gingerly from his raft and splashes through the shallows. But as he does so, his boots knock against large shards of ice floating on the surface.

• 35:28John Hopkins?

  Glenn recognizes it as pack ice. Not a good sign. Pack ice forms when currents and winds bring flows together, freezing them into large masses. Not only do they block sea routes, they're also the perfect hunting ground for polar bears.

• 35:47John Hopkins?

  And if the pack ice is a bad sign, what he sees next is a horrifying one.

• 35:57Speaker 03

  So about that time, there was probably, you know, two inches of snow on the spit covering everything. And as I start walking back toward my camp, I come across some tracks. I've been looking at grizzly bear tracks for 12 days now. I've got a pretty good feel for how big they are. These bear tracks were huge. I mean, they made the grizzly bear tracks look small, and I was like, "Oh my, there is a polar bear on the spit." And it was just here, like within the last hour, walking down through the snow. It scared the bejeebies out of me at that point.

• 36:42Speaker 03

  I could feel my heart racing now, just talking about it again. Grizzly bears, they don't want to have a bad encounter. Polar bears, they want to eat you. I mean, you are nothing more than food to them.

• 36:59John Hopkins?

  As a biologist, Glenn is acutely aware of the dangers posed by the world's largest land predator. If they pick up his scent, he'll be easy to track down.

• 37:11John Hopkins?

  Most female polar bears weigh at least 200 kilograms, while males can weigh up to 800, nearly a ton, and grow up to 10 feet long. And on this narrow stretch of land, there really is nowhere to run.

• 37:28John Hopkins?

  But Glenn has no choice but to hunker down. The weather is too punishing. And so, he sets up camp on the spit and waits for the storm to pass.

• 37:43John Hopkins?

  Inside his flimsy tent, he pulls a journal out of his dry bag.

• 37:49John Hopkins?

  Though his hands are numb, he tries writing a few sentences. In these extreme conditions and severely malnourished, it's important to keep his brain alert.

• 38:01John Hopkins?

  Night falls. And then he hears something. A low rumble, just outside.

• 38:10Speaker 03

  I'm actually laying in my tent, and I'm writing in my journal. And I hear somebody mowing the lawn outside my tent. I mean, it's a lawnmower that's going back and forth. It made me stop. Am I losing my mind? Have I lost my mind? So reassessing my whole situation. Am I too cold? Am I too hungry? What do I need to do here? I was questioning my mental status. I knew I was hungry. I knew I was lacking calories, desperate and lack of calories from two days previous of not being able to eat for thirty-six hours.

• 38:53Speaker 03

  Just being in this storm again and not being able to eat. So physically, I felt like I'm hanging in there, but barely.

• 39:04John Hopkins?

  Of course, there's always the possibility that the sound was actually the low growl of a hungry apex predator.

• 39:15John Hopkins?

  In the early hours of the morning, Glenn bites the bullet. He reaches into his dry bag and pulls out his satellite phone. He switches it on and checks the screen. Thankfully, the battery is full and it's registering a signal.

• 39:30John Hopkins?

  It's time to call Kathy.

• 39:32Speaker 03

  At that point, I was starting to question, how much longer can I do this? I don't know. I had really started questioning myself that I may not be able to survive this much longer. And I did bring a satellite phone for that reason. And so I decided to call my wife and just let her know what's going on. And I got through to her and I said, I'm out here. I made it out to this bit. The weather's been horrible. I am wet. I am hungry. And she said, are you dangling on the end of your rope?

• 40:11Speaker 03

  And I said, oh, I am dangling on a thread on the bottom of that rope right now.

• 40:18John Hopkins?

  Even with a line of communication established, there are still no guarantees anyone can reach Glenn or that he can reach the meeting point. Ever the voice of reason, Kathy remains calm, says she'll try calling the pilot and hangs up. Sometime later, Glenn's sat phone rings. Kathy has got through to the pilot, but it's not the news they wanted. He says it's too dangerous to fly right now to Glenn's location. The best they can hope for is that he may be able to collect him tomorrow in 24 hours' time.

• 40:55Speaker 03

  I'm OK right now, but in another 24 hours, I may not be.

• 41:03John Hopkins?

  A day is too long. There is another long shot he can try, calling the park rangers. In this vast wilderness, it's highly unlikely they'll be able to get to him any faster than the pilot. But at this point, best to spread his bets.

• 41:20Speaker 03

  Amy Wells out there and I was just calling them and I said, hey, this is my story. Things aren't going well and I'm concerned for my survival for the next 24 hours.

• 41:33John Hopkins?

  A team of park rangers is actually closer than Glenn could have hoped for. They're sheltering on Herschel Island, a barren landmass in the Beaufort Sea, around six miles away.

• 41:46John Hopkins?

  As the closest people to Glenn, the Rangers promised they'll try to arrange a rescue mission as soon as possible. But it will be a challenge. With the weather showing no signs of improving, and separated by stormy waters and rough land, it will be a long, arduous journey.

• 42:04John Hopkins?

  The stranded rafter doesn't hold his breath.

• 42:07Speaker 03

  When I heard that they were going to try to come out, you know, emotionally, it was like, yay, you know? There's a silver lining, so maybe. But on the other hand, I knew how bad the weather was. And I don't want people risking their life to save me. It's not fair for anybody to do that.

• 42:33Speaker 00

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• 43:02Speaker 04

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• 43:32John Hopkins?

  Morning arrives, then afternoon. With his provisions decimated, Glenn's stomach gnaws away at him.

• 43:41John Hopkins?

  Hypothermia creeps closer.

• 43:46John Hopkins?

  He stays inside his tent as its sides flap in the gale. Icy puddles start to form around him.

• 43:55John Hopkins?

  The wait continues for someone or something to arrive and one way or another, put him out of his misery.

• 44:03John Hopkins?

  As evening comes, Glenn forces himself to collect more rocks to secure his tent.

• 44:10John Hopkins?

  And then, as he unzips the flaps, he sees an amazing sight.

• 44:16Speaker 03

  I saw someone walking down the spit. They had what they call an immersion suit, water rescue stuff. They had this orange immersion suit on. I remember thinking when I saw them, it was like, I never knew that God wore orange immersion suits.

• 44:35John Hopkins?

  Finally, mercifully, help is at hand.

• 44:41John Hopkins?

  The rescuers shout to him through the storm that he needs to walk towards them.

• 44:47John Hopkins?

  They've got a truck. They can take him and all his gear to Herschel Island. Obediently, Glenn starts to pack up his kit.

• 44:57John Hopkins?

  It's all too much for his ravaged body.

• 45:01Speaker 03

  I literally collapsed. I fell down. I could not get back up. And I was just sitting there like just shaking and totally wasted. And that's, at that point is when I realized how close I had really come to maybe not make it. It was the most horrible feeling in the world. Now it's like physically, I am gone, wasted, shot, nothing left. I can't even stand out myself.

• 45:30John Hopkins?

  Glenn is wrapped in blankets and piled into the ranger's truck, where they feed him hot coffee and sugar-rich cookies. He's been found just in time.

• 45:51John Hopkins?

  As they drive away, bumping over windswept tundra and icy tracks, the rangers explain that they were actually on this very spit two days ago.

• 46:01John Hopkins?

  Having heard about Glenn's solo rafting trip, they worried for his safety when the weather turned, so took their boat around the peninsula to check on him, but they couldn't see him.

• 46:12John Hopkins?

  It's likely that the snow Glenn packed around his tent to keep it secure hid him from view.

• 46:20John Hopkins?

  Their story also clears up another mystery: the odd noise Glenn heard in the night. It wasn't a lawnmower or a polar bear, it was the ranger's boat.

• 46:31John Hopkins?

  If he'd stuck his head out of the tent, they may have spotted each other.

• 46:37John Hopkins?

  Glenn is taken to Herschel Island, where he spends three days convalescing.

• 46:44John Hopkins?

  As the snowstorm rages on and he gradually builds strength back up in his body, he and the rangers exchange more stories.

• 46:52John Hopkins?

  They're able to tie up another loose thread: what happened to the polar bear.

• 46:59John Hopkins?

  The rangers explain that when they drove past the island, they saw an enormous whale carcass, not far from where Glenn pitched his tent. The carcass would have been an easy meal for the wandering beast, and far more appetizing than Glenn. It's an unbelievable stroke of luck.

• 47:18Speaker 03

  I'm absolutely positive that that whale carcass was tastier than I am. I was starving. I was just a skinny, starving human. There's no fat on me. Thankfully, that whale carcass was there and that polar bear had something keeping me besides me.

• 47:37John Hopkins?

  Three days later, the arctic storm has finally cleared enough for the pilot to collect Glenn. He thanks his rescuers profusely, promising to stay in touch, then loads his equipment into the plane and begins the long journey home.

• 47:55John Hopkins?

  The small craft flies low over the barren lands of Yukon Country. The ice-blue waters of the Beaufort Sea lap against the rocks as the Firth River meanders through the rugged landscape.

• 48:08John Hopkins?

  Glenn stares out the window at the winding route of his solo adventure. An adventure which showcased some of the most spectacular sights in all of nature, which also came so close to taking his life.

• 48:24Speaker 03

  What got me through that whole experience was several factors. One is the background of doing adventures, you know, since I was a young teenager. And the biggest thing was having the confidence that I know I could do this, I know I can survive this. I know I haven't eaten, I know I'm cold and wet, I know I'm getting hypothermia. But I can survive this if I have a positive mental attitude about it. That's where I focused my mental energy at that point, was staying positive, looking for solutions to keep my mind occupied and not going down that spiral of doom.

• 49:07John Hopkins?

  When he finally returns to the sunny skies and dusty roads of Utah, it's as though he's entered a different world. It's so far removed from the hostile wilderness of his trip.

• 49:19John Hopkins?

  Glenn slowly settles back into normal life. But even now, nearly 25 years later, with the memories more distant, he says the lessons learned from his ordeal are never lost. Not least, that the romance of time alone will never surpass the joy of time spent with family.

• 49:39Speaker 03

  This trip has a long-lasting impact on me. It makes me live my life better, not wasting any moment of it. So I still seek out adventures. I went back to this river in 2011 with my daughter. It was completely different weather-wise. And actually, my two daughters and I are doing another trip in the Arctic this coming summer. So it made me realize that if you're going to do these adventures, there's going to be adversity, and it's overcoming that adversity. And what I've learned is that you keep a positive mental attitude. And if you're doing a trip with other people, the people that are there is the most important thing.

• 50:24Speaker 03

  The weather, the wildlife, none of that is as important as the people.

• 50:38John Hopkins?

  Next time on Real Survival Stories, we meet Rachel Colenza, a climber and adventure enthusiast whose life is thrown into the balance during a first date for the ages. In October 2003, Rachel is asked out by fellow climber Jeremy. But rather than dinner and a movie, they're off to Switzerland. And as they ascend a notorious alpine peak, the weather takes a terrible turn. The pair will find themselves 3,000 meters high at the mercy of lightning, snow, and twisting gales. With no shelter on the mountainside and the weather too extreme to coordinate a rescue, this first date threatens to become their last day.

• 51:27John Hopkins?

  That's next time. Listen right now without waiting a week by subscribing to Noiser Plus. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed or head to noiser.com/subscriptions to find out more.

• 51:41Speaker 00

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• 52:11Speaker 01

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